
5 Signs Your Diet is Hurting Your Hormones & Slowing Your Progress
More and more women are becoming aware that eating less and restrictive dieting is not the solution for long term weight loss success. Instead, we must eat and live in a way that supports our metabolism, health and hormones. This is what ultimately leads to freedom from yo-yo dieting and weight loss success. Here are 5 signs your diet is hurting your hormones and slowing your progress.
5 Signs Your Diet is Hurting Your Hormones: Not Eating Enough Protein
A lack of protein is the most common theme I see among the women I work with. An adequate amount of protein is required with every meal. Adequate protein intake supports mental health, hormone health, metabolic health and weight loss. Protein is made up of amino acids, amino acids are required for healthy hormone production.
Consuming enough protein with every meal will improve hormone health, improve muscle health, improve metabolic function, reduce appetite, reduce sweet cravings and binge eating.
Protein intake is vital for muscle building and muscle maintenance. As we age, the body finds it harder to maintain muscle mass. This has a negative impact on health and metabolic function overtime. Enjoying the right amount of protein with every meal combined with resistance training that is appropriate for you can help to slow and in some cases, reverse muscle loss.
Learn more about how much protein to eat for weight loss.
5 Signs Your Diet is Hurting Your Hormones: Low Meal Density
So many of the women I work with tell me that they are “good all day” then everything falls apart in the late afternoon or evening. Upon further investigation, I often discover that the meals women consume during that day are not dense enough to stabilise blood sugar levels and regulate the appetite.
Fluctuations in blood sugar levels cause a stress response within the body. This impacts hormone health and can affect the balance of cortisol, adrenaline, insulin, estrogen, progesterone and thyroid hormones.
A dense meal should keep you feeling full for 3-4 hours without the need to seek coffee or snacks. A dense meal includes a generous portion of protein, 1-2 handfuls of fruit or veg and a small palm sized portion of carbohydrates.
While many women fear this is too much food, I can confidently say that focusing on meal density will support your metabolism, hormones, cravings and binge eating. As a result, you will begin to release unwanted weight steadily and permanently.
5 Signs Your Diet is Hurting Your Hormones: Fasting for Weight Loss
Fasting for weight loss may work for some, but for a majority of the women I work with, fasting tends to hinder their results while negatively impacting hormone health.
Fasting for prolonged periods of time can lead to eating too few calories for too long. While this may initially result in weight loss, it can eventually lead to metabolic adaptation, making it harder to lose weight. Fasting can also make it difficult to reach our minimum protein and fibre requirements, which are crucial for hormone balance, muscle health, and stable blood sugar.
Fasting stresses the body, especially in the morning after an overnight fast. Many women choose to fast because they are not hungry in the morning, a lack of appetite early in the day may signal high stress or sluggish metabolic function.
Prolonged fasting can disrupt cortisol and adrenaline levels, which impacts weight loss and hormones like thyroid, insulin, and progesterone. It is best to start your day with a small snack and eventually work you way up to being able to enjoy a satisfying, savoury breakfast.
Lastly, fasting can lower blood sugar levels, triggering a hormonal stress responses and cravings later in the day. This can lead to a cycle of blood sugar spikes and crashes and worsening metabolic issues. Skipping breakfast is also strongly linked to binge eating later in the day.
Learn more about how fasting can hinder your weight loss results
5 Signs Your Diet is Hurting Your Hormones: Not Eating Enough Fibre
Increasing your fibre intake is one of the most underrated yet impactful things you can do for your hormone health and weight loss results.
Fibre binds to excess hormones, like estrogen, and helps to clear them from the body via the bowels. Adequate fibre intake can help to stabilise blood sugar levels (when consumed with protein and healthy carbs) which supports hormone health. Adequate fibre intake can improve insulin sensitivity while supporting gut health and increasing the production of hormones that help us to feel satiated for longer.
Enjoying a wide variety of fruits and vegetables will help you to reach your fibre needs. Varied fibre intake helps to build a rich and diverse microbiome which has a positive impact on hormone health, weight loss and can even help your body to produce more of the famous GLP-1 peptide. Learn more about how to stimulate GLP-1 production naturally.
5 Signs Your Diet is Hurting Your Hormones: Reaching for Convenience Foods
I understand life is busy however, some of our favourite convenience foods are doing far more harm than good.
Packaged “health foods” like protein bars, many yoghurts, low calorie microwave meals, low fat, low carb or low calorie snacks are packed full of hormone disrupting ingredients. Seed oils, artificial sweeteners and other additives can disrupt gut and hormone health.
While the calorie or macro content of these convenient, processed foods may fit your plan, it’s important to look beyond the oversimplified model of “calories in vs calories out” for weight loss. For long lasting weight loss we must look at how the foods we choose to eat support the health of our body.
I provide everyone I work with a recipe guide that contains quick, easy to prepare meals that keep well and reheat well so you can reduce the amount of time spend cooking and preparing meals. A majority of the meals are family friendly and can be tailored to suit individual likes, wants and needs.
The Solution
Creating a sustainable plan for hormone health and fat loss may seem overwhelming. As a hormone naturopath specialising in weight loss, I help women to lose weight by supporting optimal hormone health through sustainable nutrition and lifestyle changes.
If you are ready to take control of your health and weight, here are 3 ways I can help:
1. Work with me! Book a consultation in person (Evandale, SA) or AUS + NZ wide online via Zoom
2. Listen to the Holistic Weight Loss Podcast
3. Connect with me on Instagram | Pinterest | YouTube | LinkedIn | Facebook
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